Post navigation

From the mind of an NHL goaltender: Jonathan Quick’s shootout game plan

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick is 4-0 in shootouts this season, having denied 10 of 11 shooters after Sunday’s victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Quick said Monday he keeps mental notes on the favorite moves of opposing shooters, whether they like to shoot quickly or make a fake or two before trying to slip the puck behind him. He also stressed the importance of gaining the extra point after each team draws one for forcing a game to overtime and then a shootout.

“You’re just trying to recall what they’re trying to do and what moves you’ve seen in the past, so you’re prepared a bit,” Quick said. “But at the end of the day, obviously, you’re just kind of reacting to them. You’ll go over it briefly. Just from playing teams a lot and seeing guys a lot, you know what moves players like and where they like to shoot.”

Quick is 34-18 lifetime in shootouts, the fifth-best record among active goalies in the NHL. He chalked up some of his success to the skills of the Kings’ shooters, who include Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards at the top of the order.

“That always helps when you know you’re getting one (shootout goal) pretty much every time,” Quick said of Carter, Kopitar and Richards. “It gives you a lot more chances to win. I know I wouldn’t want to see those three coming down.”

Bottom line from Quick on the shootout: “You either love it or you hate it. Right now, we love it.”

Who is behind Inside the Kings blog?

Elliott Teaford is an award-winning hockey reporter based in Southern California and witnessed the L.A. Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and in '14. He grew up playing outdoors on the streets of Philadelphia. He also watched the Flyers bully their way to consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1970s, and makes no excuses for their quasi-legal play.

Comments policy

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@langnews.com.